


Queeroes

by The_Devil_In_The_Details_666



Category: Captain America (Movies), Captain Marvel (2019), Iron Man (Movies), Spider-Man - All Media Types, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Canon? What's A Canon?, Civil War never happened and I refuse to admit otherwise, Genderfluid Tony Stark, Just me indulging my deep desire for LGBTQ+ representation, Multi, Not Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie) Compliant, Not Captain America: Civil War (Movie) Compliant, They're All LGBTQ+, Trans Peter Parker, Trans Steve Rogers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-26
Updated: 2019-08-04
Packaged: 2020-03-19 22:13:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 13,516
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18979378
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Devil_In_The_Details_666/pseuds/The_Devil_In_The_Details_666
Summary: Little snippets of LGBTQ+ Avengers.Started as a joke, didn't stay that way. Just the author fulfilling their deeply rooted need for LGBTQ+ representation in the media because honestly, screw this culture of "Oh, we can't have LGBTQ+ characters because of whatever reason."JUST MAKE THEM GAY, FOLKS! IT AIN'T HARD!





	1. A Tiny Queer Appears

Stephanie had always known there was something different about her. Being called “miss” and “young lady” felt wrong, felt like she was lying to the world. Her own body felt like a lie, like she was wearing a costume, and it made her skin crawl every time she saw her reflection. It wasn’t until she got gum stuck in her hair and had to cut it as short as the neighbor boy’s that she felt even the slightest bit okay in her own skin. And when the local butcher called her “young man” instead of “young lady”, Stephanie finally connected the dots and realized that ‘she’ wasn’t a girl. He was a boy.

 

Bucky was the first person he ever told. He hadn’t even meant to, honestly, but it just slipped out one day while they were walking to the art museum.

“Hey, Bucky, can I tell you a secret?”

Bucky looked down at short blonde that he was mildly in love with (not that he was ever planning to admit it) and answered, “’Course you can, Stephie. You know you can tell me anything.”

Bucky didn’t miss the flinch and Stephanie whispered, “Promise you won’t get mad? Or- Or tell anyone?”

Bucky stopped and gently dragged Stephanie off to the side of the path, stating, “Stephie, you know damn well that I won’t tell anyone or get mad at you.”

Stephanie refused to meet his eyes and Bucky could feel a bubble of what could only be described as panicky fear forming in his gut. Then Stephanie mumbled, “Even if I told you that I’m a boy?”

The statement caught Bucky off-guard and he stared blankly at the blonde in front of him, asking, “Wait, what?”

Stephanie quietly repeated, “I’m a boy, Buck. Not- Not physically, but… But I’m still a boy.”

Stephanie could practically see Bucky swallow back the thousands of questions that came to his mind and instead decide to ask, “So, uh, do you want me to call you something other than Stephanie?”

Stephanie lit up, staring at Bucky with teary blue eyes, and answered excitedly, “Yeah! I was thinking Steven! Steven Grant Rogers!”

Bucky hummed thoughtfully, then answered, “It suits you… Stevie.”

Steve looked like he was about to cry happy tears and Bucky couldn’t help but pull him into a hug, stating, “I’m glad you told me, Stevie.”


	2. Buck-Gay Barnes

Bucky had known for as long as he could remember that he was attracted to boys and boys only. It came as a bit of a shock, then, when he found himself falling in love with one Stephanie Gina Rogers, his best friend. The fiery blonde, under all the layers of ‘I will fight you to the death’, was the sweetest, most caring punk that Bucky had ever met and he was smitten. A fact which sent him into a bit of a sexuality crisis, because he knew that he had never been attracted to girls until he saw Stephanie punch that irritating Charlie Malone prick and his first thought was, “God, I want to marry her.”

(Followed closely by “Goddammit, Stephie, stop punching people who are bigger than you.”)

And as much as Bucky wanted to ask Stephanie out on a date, he had already told her that he was gay and he didn’t want her thinking that he had lied about it. So, he forced himself to keep his feelings to himself and tried to not dwell on the fact that a lot of things that he did with her felt a little too close to dates for comfort.

 

When Stephanie told Bucky that ‘she’ was actually Steve, the first thought in Bucky’s head was, “Wait, does that mean I  _ am _ still gay?”

Instead of voicing that thought, however, Bucky went with an awkward, “It suits you… Stevie.”

And fuck if the look on Steve’s cute little face didn’t make Bucky feel like he had just won the lottery. To avoid doing something stupid, like, say, kissing the adorable blonde idiot who had just unknowingly started Round 3 of Bucky’s ongoing crisis of sexuality, Bucky pulled Steve into a tight hug and murmured, “I’m glad you told me, Stevie.”

Steve curled into Bucky’s hold, scrawny little arms wrapping around Bucky’s waist, and quietly asked, “You’re not… upset?”

Bucky gave Steve’s hair a playful ruffle and teased, “About finding out that my best friend does dumb shit because he’s a boy instead of out of just pure stupidity? Nope.”

That earned Bucky a smack on the chest, but Steve was laughing, so it was totally worth it. Finally, Steve pulled back and wiped his eyes, murmuring, “Thanks, Buck. I- I needed that.”

Bucky grinned down at Steve, then replied, “No problem, Stevie. Now, are we gonna go look at those paintings you like so much or what?”

Steve hummed thoughtfully before stating, “Actually, let’s go to the science museum. I wanna draw the dinosaur bones.”

Bucky stared at Steve in confusion for a moment, since Steve never suggested the science museum, before it hit him: Steve suggested it because he knew that Bucky liked the science museum.

Jesus Christ, Bucky was in love.


	3. Iron "Man"

Anthony ‘Tony’ Edward Stark was a genius. At 15, he was accepted to MIT. At 19, he graduated with master’s degrees in both engineering and physics. At 22, he built the Iron Man Mark I. All that intelligence, as useful as it tended to be, was also probably why, when he first realized that his gender was fluctuating at 26, he felt like such a massive idiot. In fact, it wasn’t until Pepper made an off-handed comment about the way he seemed to act a lot more feminine that Tony actually realized it.

“I swear, Tony, sometimes I can’t tell which of us is the woman in this relationship.”

Tony looked up sharply from where he was mixing cupcake batter, smacking his head on the kitchen cabinet, and asked, “Wait, what? What do you mean?”

Pepper raised an eyebrow, trying not to laugh at the sight of Tony wearing her apron over one of her red shirts that had gone missing a few weeks prior, then stepped forward and wiped a smear of cake batter off of his cheek as she stated, “I’m kidding, honey. You just act so stereotypically feminine sometimes, not that there’s anything wrong with that, and then I see you wearing my clothes and it’s just a little funny to me. And I was wondering where that shirt had gotten to. It’s a good color on you.”

Tony stared at her with wide, confused eyes and, as though she hadn’t just literally tipped his world on its ass, Pepper peered over his shoulder at the bowl of batter and asked, “Ooh, are you making red velvet?”

Tony blinked owlishly, his mind racing a mile a minute as he started connecting dots that he hadn’t even thought about, then squeaked, “I gotta go.”

Then he darted past a deeply confused Pepper and sprinted to his lab, calling, “JARVIS, open a notes file!”

Two hours later, Pepper came down the stairs to the lab with a bag of takeout Chinese and a slice of red velvet cake to find Tony laying on a table and talking to JARVIS. Typing in the door code, she opened the lab door in time to hear Tony ramble, “-And I always told myself that I steal Pepper’s clothes cause they’re more comfortable than mine, but I’m thinking about why that is and I think that I actually wear them because they make me feel pretty sometimes, which doesn’t make any sense, because other times, they just make me feel wrong? Am I crazy?”

Pepper cleared her throat, startling Tony so badly that he fell off the table, then stated, “Well, you’re definitely crazy, but that has nothing to do with you enjoying wearing my clothes sometimes. Speaking of, I don’t necessarily mind you borrowing them, but please ask in the future.”

Tony scrambled to his feet, smacking his shoulder on the table, and Pepper rolled her eyes, then held out the takeout box and a pair of chopsticks, ordering, “Sit down and eat your Chinese before you hurt yourself.”

Tony obediently plopped down on one of his lab stools and took the box, opening it and shoving a piece of orange chicken into his mouth. Pepper sat down on the stool across from him, noting the way Tony wouldn’t meet her eyes, then sighed.

“Tony, I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable earlier. I don’t know what exactly I said that’s got you freaking out so badly, but I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have made the joke.”

Tony swallowed his piece of chicken, nearly choking, then rambled, “You didn’t do anything wrong, Pep, don’t apologize. You just got me thinking and you know how I tend to overthink simple things.”

Pepper looked distinctly disbelieving, but didn’t voice any protests before setting the plate of cake on the table and stating, “Well, I’m going to go take a shower. Eat your chicken before the cake.”

 

Then she got up and walked out, leaving Tony in a state of mental overdrive.

  
  
  


In the end, it took Tony all of a week to figure out that he was genderfluid. However, upon piecing that fun little fact together, Tony had a mild emotional crisis that lasted a solid three months. 

  
  
  


“I would’ve known if I was genderfluid sooner, right, JARVIS? I mean, I’m a genius, if I were really genderfluid, I would’ve figured it out when I was younger, right? Right, JARVIS?

 

Tony could practically hear the exasperation in JARVIS’s voice as the AI stated, “Sir, it is not uncommon for people to figure out their gender identity in their early to late twenties. Given your history of less than perfect introspection skills, it is highly likely that you are one of many who didn’t figure it out until your mid-twenties.”

 

Tony groaned from his place underneath his desk and whined, “But I’m a genius, JARVIS. I should’ve realized it beforehand, right? I mean, my introspection skills aren’t that bad, right?”

 

JARVIS’s silence was telling and Tony rolled onto his stomach to press his cheek to the cold tile, grumbling, “Rude. You know what, just for that, I’m gonna talk to Rhodey instead of you. At least he’ll look me in eyes when he’s being a dick.”

 

JARVIS didn’t dignify that statement with a response and Tony fished his phone out of his pocket, selecting Rhodey’s contact and setting the phone to speaker as it rang. Moments later, Rhodey greeted, “Hey, Tony. Everything alright?”

 

Tony huffed and answered, “I’m having a crisis, Rhodey.”

 

Rhodey sounded distinctly unconcerned as he asked, “Aren’t you always?”

 

“Rhoooooodeeeeeeyyyyyyy! I’m serious! I’m having an identity crisis!!!”

 

Tony’s whine was met with a heavy sigh, then Rhodey grumbled, “Alright, alright, I’m listening. What’re you overthinking this time?”

 

Tony hesitated for a moment, then closed his eyes and blurted, “I think I might be genderfluid. I mean, Pepper said something about me acting feminine sometimes and I started thinking and I think it might be that it’s because sometimes I’m a girl, but I would’ve figured it out sooner, right? I figured out how to miniaturize the arc reactor, I think I would’ve noticed that my gender changes, right?”

 

The words hung in the air for a few moments before Rhodey slowly asked, “You mean you didn’t know? I mean, dude, I always had a feeling that you weren’t cis and that you just didn’t feel comfortable coming out to me, but you honestly didn’t know?”

 

Tony’s eyes snapped open and he yelped, “Wait, you  _ knew _ ???? How long have you known? How did you know?”

 

Rhodey cautiously answered, “I didn’t know for sure, but I had a feeling. I don’t know, man, you just seemed to act way more feminine on some days.”

 

Tony stared blankly at the floor, then asked, “So you don’t think I’m just overthinking things?”

 

“Tony. I love you, but you overthink everything.”

 

Tony grumbled, but, knowing Rhodey was right, didn’t bother trying to argue. Rhodey let Tony pout for a few moments, then questioned, “Now that your crisis is resolved, did you need something else?”

 

Tony rolled to lay on his back and heaved a dramatic sigh, asking, “Yeah. How do I tell Pepper?”

 

Tony could practically  _ hear  _ Rhodey roll his eyes as Rhodey stated, “No idea. Take her out to dinner and say it or something.”

 

Tony hummed thoughtfully, brain already running through scenarios, and, after calling his name several times, Rhodey finally gave up and ended the call.


	4. It's Pronounced "Peter", not "Penny"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: TRANSPHOBIC LANGUAGE/BEHAVIOR!!!!

Penny was 11 when she figured out that ‘she’ was actually ‘he’. It wasn’t any big realization like they show in the movies, the one pivotal moment where he realized it. It was more of a slow crawl, little thing after little thing over the course of a few years, until suddenly Penny was sitting next to Ned in their seventh grade math class and saying, “So, uh, do you mind calling me Peter instead of Penny?”

 

Ned looked at Peter, then replied, “I can do that, Peter.”

 

Peter had just opened his mouth to reply when Mrs. Walker snapped, “Mr. Leeds, Ms. Parker, would you care to share your conversation with the class?”

 

Before his brain had even processed it, Peter corrected, “Mr.”

 

Mrs. Walker looked startled, then growled, “Excuse me?”

 

Knowing he was digging himself into his own grave but unable to shut himself up, Peter stated, “It’s Mr. Parker, not Ms. Parker. I was asking Ned to start calling me Peter.”

 

Peter then clamped one hand over his mouth to avoid digging himself any deeper and looked at the clock, wishing fourth block would end sooner. Mrs. Walker was known for her rather negative views on LGBTQ+ students and here was Peter’s dumb ass, announcing to both her and his entire class that he was trans. And, because the universe enjoyed watching him suffer, Flash was in his class. Peter sank down in his seat and Mrs. Walker marched forward, snarling, “I will not be calling you Peter or Mr. Parker,  _ Ms _ . Parker, because you are a young  _ lady  _ and I will address you as such. Furthermore, you will be serving a detention Monday after school for disrupting class.”

 

Peter slunk down in his seat, hot tears prickling at the corners of his eyes, and Mrs. Walker stomped back to the front of the room as Ned scribbled a note one a sheet of paper and passed it to Peter. Peter unfolded the note and rubbed his eyes, smiling at little at Ned’s messy scrawl reading, “Well, even if she won’t, I’ll still call you Peter. Cause, you know, I have basic human decency.”

 

Peter fished his pen from his bag and scribbled, “Thanks, Ned.”

 

Peter passed the note to Ned just as the classroom phone rang. Mrs. Walker answered it, then turned and stated, “Mr. Leeds, you’re wanted for dismissal in the office.”

 

Ned quickly shoved his binder in his bag and murmured, “I forgot I had a dentist’s appointment today. I’ll see you later, Pete.”

 

Then he was hurrying out, leaving Peter to face the wolves alone. Peter sank down further in his seat, wishing he could just dissolve into dust, and Mrs. Walker glared at him for a moment before marching over to help Katie with the worksheet they were doing. 

  
  
  


The class seemed to last several years, but, finally, after a veritable eternity, the dismissal bell rang. Peter immediately sprang to his feet and started towards the door, but stopped as Mrs. Walker ordered, “Sit back down, Ms. Parker. I need to speak with you.”

 

Nausea churned in Peter’s gut, but he sank back down in his seat, feeling a bit like a death-row inmate in Old Sparky. Students flooded out of the classroom until Peter was the only one left, at which point Mrs. Walker finally snarled, “Ms. Parker, I don’t know where you got the foolish idea that you should be referred to as  _ Mr _ . Parker, but I do  _ not  _ appreciate you deciding to backtalk and  _ lie  _ to me in the middle of class. You are a young lady,  _ Ms _ . Parker, and if not for how busy I am this weekend, I would call your aunt and tell her about your blatant lying. However, should this type of nonsense behavior continue, I will not hesitate to reach out to her and inform her of this. Have I made myself perfectly clear?”

 

Peter tried to blink back the tears in his eyes and nodded, mumbling, “Yes ma’am.”

 

Mrs. Walker made a disapproving noise and snapped, “Speak up, Ms. Parker. It is unbecoming for a young lady to mumble.”

 

Peter swallowed past the lump in his throat and choked out louder, “Yes ma’am.”

 

Mrs. Walker nodded, then returned to her desk and stated, “You may go now, Ms. Parker.”

 

Peter scrambled to gather his things and bolted out of the room, tears streaming down his cheeks. Upon noticing Flash coming towards him, Peter sprinted out the double doors, praying that Flash would just go away. But the universe clearly couldn’t be that kind, as evidenced by the fact that, moments later, Peter was being grabbed by the back of the shirt and dragged into the air as Flash jeered, “Awww, look at poor little baby Peter, crying like a  _ girl _ . Oh wait,  _ she  _ is.”

 

Peter struggled to get out of Flash’s grip and Flash dropped him, then grabbed Peter’s threadbare shirt and yanked it hard enough for the faded blue fabric to rip down the front. Flash laughed, then shoved Peter to the floor, mocking, “Wow, Peter, I didn’t think boys wore bras. Except, wait, they don’t, you fucking tranny freak.”

 

Peter couldn’t even begin to stop the tears streaming down his cheeks as he pulled his shirt closed over his chest and ran.

  
  
  
  


May was sitting on the couch when Penny got home. Penny dropped her bag to the floor and bolted to her room, May just barely catching sight of her niece’s tear-streaked face. After a moment of processing, May stood and walked to Penny’s door, knocking lightly and calling, “Penny, honey, can I come in?”

 

For a moment, all May could hear was Penny sniffling. Then Penny opened the door, dressed (read: drowning) in one of Ben’s sweatshirts, and practically collapsed into May’s arms. May hugged her niece tight and gently guided her towards the bed, sitting down and holding Penny tight as she murmured, “It’ll be alright, honey, it’ll be okay.”

 

Penny sobbed into her shoulder and May gently stroked her long brown curls, letting her cry. Finally, Penny’s sobs quieted and May asked, “What’s wrong, sweetheart?”

 

Penny hesitated for a moment, then mumbled something into May’s shoulder that May couldn’t quite hear. May leaned down a little and requested, “Could you repeat that a little louder, Penny? I couldn’t hear you.”

 

Penny curled tighter in on herself, then, just barely loud enough for May to hear, Penny stated, “I’m a boy, Aunt May.”

 

May froze for a second before hugging him closer and murmuring, “Oh, honey, I wish I had known sooner.”

 

Penny looked up at May in surprise, then, like he was testing the waters, whispered, “I’ve started going by Peter with Ned.”

 

May pressed a gentle kiss to Peter’s forehead and stated, “Well, Peter, your mother swore up and down that she was having a boy when she was pregnant with you. Guess she was right after all.”

 

Peter’s eyes filled with tears again and he buried his face in May’s shoulder, making May think she had said the wrong thing until Peter whispered, “I was so scared you would reject me. I accidently told Mrs. Walker that I wanted to go by Peter during fourth block and she yelled at me that I’m a girl and gave me detention on Monday and threatened to call you, and then after class, Flash grabbed my shirt and ripped it and said that I had to be a girl because I have breasts.”

 

May tightened her grip on her nephew and growled, “Well, Mrs. Walker is going to be getting a very strongly worded email today. And on Monday, you and I are going to the principal and reporting Flash, because I will not tolerate that little shi- brat harassing my nephew.”

 

Peter finally stopped crying for the second time and looked up at May, scrubbing the tears off of his cheeks with the sleeve of his pilfered sweatshirt. May gave him a small smile and ran her fingers through his hair, adding in a faux casual tone, “By the way, you have a haircut tomorrow. And you know, the place we go to does donations to Locks for Love.”

 

Peter giggled and answered, “You’re not very good at subtlety, Aunt May. But is my hair long enough to donate? I know it has to be a certain length.”

 

May grinned and answered, “I’m pretty sure it is. If memory serves, it has to be at least 10 inches, which yours definitely exceeds.”

  
  
  
  


The next afternoon, Peter stepped out of the salon feeling lighter both physically and mentally. His hair donation had been nearly 22 inches long and, when he looked it the mirror after it was cut, it had looked like Peter staring back, not Penny. And, upon seeing his haircut, May had ruffled his hair and cooed, “You look so handsome, Peter!”

 

Which, while embarrassing because he’s a middle-school boy and therefore embarrassed by literally every public interaction with his parental figures, made Peter feel a little like he was floating. Then, after the haircut, May had taken him to get ice-cream, which was cool (pun intended), and shown him the rather irate email she had sent to Mrs. Walker, which was pretty awesome. 

  
  
  


On Monday morning, true to her word, May walked with Peter to the school and marched into Principal Brownstein’s office. Mr. Brownstein looked a bit startled when Peter and May walked in, but still greeted, “Good morning. Can I help you with something?”

 

May smiled like a shark and answered, “Yes, as a matter of fact, you can. My nephew and I would like to report a student who has been harassing him and who went so far as to physically grab him last Friday, rip his shirt, and then make inappropriate comments about him.”

 

Mr. Brownstein looked distinctly uncomfortable and replied, “I see. Does this student have a name?”

 

Peter swallowed back the terror in his throat and squeaked, “Eugene. Thompson.”

 

Mr. Brownstein’s face paled slightly and he slowly stated, “Oh. I see. Well, er, I’m afraid that there’s really nothing that can be done. Mr. Thompson’s parents are rather important donors to the school, you see, and without that funding...”.

 

He trailed off as May’s face contorted with anger and she snarled, “You mean to tell me that my nephew is being harassed and assaulted at school and you won’t do jack shit about it because of money? Maybe I should’ve just taken this to the police instead of bringing it here. Maybe then something would get done about my nephew being assaulted.”

 

Peter couldn’t help but feel a little bad for Mr. Brownstein, who looked like he had just gotten slapped across the face at the mere thought of May going to the police. But at the same time, he couldn’t help but feel just a little bit happy about May going to bat for him. Mr. Brownstein weakly stated, “I wish that something could be done about it, but I’m afraid that there really is nothing that I can do.”

 

May clenched one fist, then took a deep breath and replied, “I see. In that case, it seems that I’ll have to get in contact with Mr. Thompson’s parents myself.”

 

Then she was walking Peter out of the office. Peter could see her fuming and, as they reached the front steps of the school, May finally asked, “Peter, how do you feel about changing schools?”

 

Peter stopped short, then protested, “Aunt May, no! All of my friends are at this school and it’s the middle of the year! It’s not that big of a deal! Please don’t make me change schools.”

 

May sighed heavily, some of her anger leeching away, and pulled Peter into a hug, whispering, “Alright, sweetheart, if that’s what you want. But promise you’ll tell me if something like that happens again, okay?”

 

Peter hugged back, answering, “I promise, Aunt May.”

 

May pulled out of the hug and held out her pinkie, making Peter smile as he hooked his pinkie with hers and shook it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I made myself cry writing this.


	5. One Gay, Two Gay, Red Gay, Blue Gay

Tony had known Steven Grant Rogers, Captain America himself, for over three months before he realized that he had never actually seen Cap shirtless. He realized this, however, only after walking into the training room and seeing Cap standing shirtless. In that moment, every thought except two left Tony’s head. In order, those thoughts were: 

 

“Oh no, he’s hot.”

 

Followed closely by: “Wait, are those scars on his chest? I thought he healed too quickly for scars to form.”

 

Without even thinking, Tony was hurrying forward and asking, “Are those scars, Capsicle? What happened to you healing without scars?”

 

In seconds, Steve’s face matched the red on his shield, making Tony grin. As Tony got closer, however, he noticed the exact shape and placement of the two matching scars. Hesitantly, Tony asked, “Steve, are those… Are those top surgery scars?”

 

Steve’s face got redder, though Tony wasn’t entirely sure how, and Steve snapped, “It’s none of your business, Tony.”

 

Tony held up his hands in the universal sign of ‘chill out’ and replied, “Hey, woah, no judgement here. Not like I’ve got any room to judge anyway.”

 

Steve narrowed his eyes at Tony and asked, “What do you mean?”

 

Tony hesitated for a moment before stating, “I’m genderfluid. I thought you would’ve… Wait, have you ever actually been here on one of my ‘girl’ days?”

 

Steve looked confused, but distinctly less defensive, so Tony was gonna count it as a win. Tony lowered his hands and, after a moment, asked, “You have absolutely no idea what genderfluid means, do you?”

 

Steve lowered his gaze like he was ashamed of himself and shook his head. Tony smiled, his heart thudding just a little faster at how cute the super-soldier was despite being built like an actual god, then explained, “It means that my gender changes. Sometimes I’m a man, sometimes a woman, sometimes I’m somewhere in between. I always use Tony and he/him pronouns, though.”

 

Steve nodded understandingly and, after a moment of hesitation, stated, “I was- I was born Stephanie Gina Rogers. When I signed up for the military, I- I technically lied on my enlistment forms. I said my legal name was Steven Grant Rogers, which is what I had been going by for nearly six years at that point. After the serum, Howard found out about me being the way that I am and offered to get in touch with a surgeon he knew. And… And he offered to help me legally change my name. I accepted on both. It wasn’t until after the surgery that we realized that the anesthesia they used prevented me from healing until the scars had already formed.”

 

He looked ashamed of himself and Tony replied, “I’m glad you were able to get surgery and everything. And I’m sorry for making you uncomfortable.”

 

Steve shrugged slightly and answered, “It’s… It’s nice to tell someone. And to know that I’m not the only one. So thanks.”

 

Tony hesitated, then stated, “If you ever need anything, let me know.”

 

Steve gave Tony a soft smile and replied, “I will.”


	6. It’s Still Gay If It’s In A 3-Way

Tony was stretched out on his lab couch, dressed in a cute red sundress that Pepper had gotten him and listening to the radio as he looked over some design specs, when Bucky entered the lab. There was a moment of uncomfortable silence as they stared at each other, then Bucky cleared his throat and awkwardly stated, “You look… pretty. I like your dress.”

 

Tony smiled slightly and answered, “Oh, uh, thanks.”

 

Awkward silence reigned again until Tony finally asked, “Did you, uh, need something?”

 

That snapped Bucky out of his daze and he answered, “My arm is acting up. Can you fix it?”

 

The excited gleam in Tony’s eye made Bucky’s heart do a weird little flippy thing, the same flippy thing that it did when he looked at Steve. In seconds, Tony was herding Bucky to a stool as he collected his tools and babbled a mile a minute. Bucky sat down on the stool, a tiny smile playing at his lips as Tony darted into the bathroom to change into a pair of oil-stained shorts and a tank top. Once he was properly dressed for tinkering, Tony dragged a stool over to where Bucky sitting and opened up the arm’s access panel, pulling on a pair of magnifiers and shining a penlight in to examine the machinery. Tony happily examined the arm’s innards, humming along with the music, and finally announced, “Ah-ha! Found your problem! One of the gears is busted, probably from too many years of use. An easy fix.”

 

He leaned across Bucky, almost completely in Bucky’s lap, and Bucky felt a little like he was going into cardiac arrest as he squeaked, “What are you doing?”

 

Tony straightened back up and held up a small silver gear, answering, “I was getting a replacement gear. Sorry if I made you uncomfortable, I wasn’t really thinking. Didn’t mean to overstep any boundaries or anything.”

 

Bucky swallowed and stated, “It’s fine. Just surprised me.”

 

Tony nodded and returned his attention to the arm, removing the broken black gear and putting in the new one as Bucky stared at Tony’s fluffy hair and tried not to think about how nice it would feel to touch it. Far too soon and yet not soon enough, Tony pulled back and closed the access panel, ordering, “Give it a test, see if it works.”

 

Bucky obediently tested the newly repaired arm, which worked like a dream, and stated, “Thanks.”

 

The pair sat in silence for a moment, neither one really wanting to move away, and Tony finally cleared his throat and awkwardly suggested, “There were a few other gears that looked pretty worn out, if you want me to go ahead and replace them?”

 

Bucky nodded and answered, “That sounds good.”

 

Tony reopened the access panel and began poking around again, blushing slightly. Bucky felt like his heart was about to jump out if his chest and was beginning to deeply regret letting Tony replace the gears, but didn’t have the heart to pull away and risk Tony losing his smile. Instead, he just sat completely still as Tony carefully replaced the gears, right up until Tony let out a frustrated noise and growled, “Who did they have maintaining this thing, a monkey with a wrench? This thing is a mess, dear god.”

 

Bucky couldn’t help but feel worried as he asked, “Is everything alright?”

 

In reply, Tony pulled a weird, gunky string out of the arm and announced, “If I ever meet the person who was in charge of maintaining this thing, I’m going to break their jaw and all of their fingers, because, as beautiful as this piece of machinery is, it hasn’t been taken care of worth shit. Seriously, why the hell is there a piece of oil-covered twine in here? This is madness.”

 

Bucky stared blankly at Tony and Tony looked up at him, then gravely requested, “Please tell me that you’ll let me do a full cleaning of your arm. I will get down on my hands and knees and beg if that’s what it takes, but please, please, please let me clean your arm up. I feel like I’m gonna end up having nightmares about this beautiful piece machinery being so covered in filth.”

 

Bucky couldn’t help but laugh a little at Tony’s dramatics even as he replied, “Let me go grab a book first. Then you can clean it.”

 

Tony nodded, looking a bit like a bobblehead, and Bucky hurried upstairs to grab his copy of  _ Dracula _ , then returned to Tony’s lab and settled back in on the stool. Tony immediately went to work, pulling out pieces of gunk and replacing gears and wires.

  
  
  
  


Nearly seven hours later, Steve walked down to Tony’s lab in his search for Bucky, knowing that his boyfriend had mentioned asking Tony to help with his arm. Upon entering Tony’s lab, however, Steve was surprised to find Bucky sitting on a plastic-covered couch and looking mostly asleep as Tony tinkered with his arm. Steve raised an eyebrow as he approached and Tony glanced up, then stated, “Before you even ask, your boyfriend’s arm needed a deep clean and I had a free afternoon.”

 

Steve couldn’t help his laugh at Tony’s proclamation and plopped down on the couch next to Bucky, startling Bucky into awareness. Bucky blinked sleepily and yawned, asking, “Stevie? When’d you get here?”

 

Steve gently lifted Bucky’s flesh arm and settled it around his shoulders as he snuggled into Bucky’s side, answering, “Just now. You doing okay?”

 

Bucky tipped his head to rest his cheek on Steve’s hair, answering, “Yeah. ‘s nice.”

 

Steve could tell Bucky was starting to drift off again and resigned himself to staying where he was until Bucky woke up. Tony was humming softly as he worked and Steve asked, “How’s the deep clean going?”

 

Tony replaced another gear and answered, “It’s going. This may end up being a multi-day project, given that this thing probably hasn’t been properly cleaned since it was built. Seriously, I don’t know how this arm is A) still functioning and B) not giving your boyfriend every infection known to man and then some.”

 

Steve raised a skeptical eyebrow and, face expressionless, Tony held up one of the recently replaced gears and used a flathead screwdriver to chip an inch-thick layer of gunk off of the side. Steve paled and tipped his head to peer at the arm, whispering, “Jesus Christ, Bucky.”

 

Tony mumbled his agreement and delved back into the arm. Steve cuddled into Bucky’s side and closed his eyes, eventually drifting asleep to the sound of Tony humming.

  
  
  


Steve woke up to the sound of the lab door opening. Then, from somewhere to his right, Pepper cooed, “Aww, that’s cute.” 

 

There was the click of a phone camera, then the sound of Pepper’s footsteps. Moments later, Pepper ordered, “FRIDAY, turn off the lights.”

 

The light glaring through Steve’s lids cut to black as Pepper softly stated, “Sleep well, boys.”

 

Then the lab door closed. Steve shifted slightly, tucking his head into the crook of Bucky’s neck, then went back to sleep.

  
  
  


Steve woke up to a phone being shoved in his face as Tony hissed like an offended cat. Prying his eyes open, Steve blinked the sleep out of them and focused on the screen, which was open to Twitter and very clearly displayed a photograph of Steve and Bucky asleep on the couch, with Tony slumped over the arm of it with his head on Bucky’s metal shoulder. The tweet was from @PottsOfPepper, Pepper’s personal account, and had Steve (@ThatIsAmericasAss), Bucky (@IdLikeMyArmBackPlease), Tony (@IronStarkTonyMan) tagged. Pepper had also tagged Natasha (@BlackWidowBitches), Bruce (@BruceHeckinBanner), Rhodey (@ColonelRhodes), Sam (@FlyingSam), Clint (@TheAroAce), and, surprisingly, Thor (@GodOfLesbians). The caption of it simply read, “I think it’s past their bedtime.”

 

Steve blinked at the photo for a moment, then looked at Tony, stating, “It’s a cute photo.”

 

Tony’s nose wrinkled in a very cute way that made Steve want to boop it, but he resisted the urge (on the grounds like he was rather attached to his fingers and would very much like to keep them, please and thank you). Then Tony flopped down on the ground like a petulant child and immediately began whining melodramatically.

 

“I’ll never live this down! What will people think?”

 

Steve quirked an eyebrow and started, “That you were-”

 

“I’ll lose my reputation as all cool and suave!”

 

Steve couldn’t help but roll his eyes at the interruption and shot back, “We’ve all seen you get a martini dumped over your head at an Avengers benefit. It became an internet me-me. I wouldn’t really call that ‘cool’ or ‘suave’.”

 

Tony glared at him from his place on the floor and grumbled, “Yeah, yeah, shut up, Capsicle. You know what I mean. And it’s pronounced ‘meem’, gramps.”

 

Bucky stirred next to Steve and lifted his head, metal hand coming up to cover a yawn as his flesh hand rubbed his eyes. Blinking blearily down at Tony, he asked, “Why are you on the floor?”

 

Tony opened his mouth to start whining, but Steve cut in, “He’s being overdramatic about a picture Pepper took of us.”

 

Tony pouted and pushed himself into a sitting position on the floor, grousing, “Well, since neither of you jerks seem to care about me and I already finished cleaning that fine piece of machinery, I’m going to go get dressed in something cute. Screw you both.”

 

He gave Steve and Bucky a glare, his nose wrinkling again, and Steve had to clench his fingers in the couch cushion to keep himself from booping it. Bucky apparently had no such reservations and reached out with his metal hand, lightly tapping the tip of Tony’s nose. The look on Tony’s slowly reddening face made it very, very difficult for Steve to keep it together. Tony looked like a startled, slightly offended cat and it took every bit of will and focus that Steve had to not completely break down laughing. As it was, he couldn’t stop the smile pulling at his lips more and more the longer Tony sat in stunned silence. Finally, Tony stood and put his hands on his hips, grumbling, “Rogers, control your boyfriend.”

 

That was the final straw. Steve lost his battle to not laugh and dissolved into giggles, crumpling against Bucky as Tony flipped them off and stormed away, a blush still high in his cheeks. By the time Steve managed to stop laughing, Tony was long gone and Bucky was smiling in a way that Steve hadn’t seen in a long while. The super-soldiers sat on the couch in contented silence for a little while longer, until Steve started, “Hey, Buck, have you thought about… about maybe bringing in a third partner?”

 

Bucky hummed and stood up, popping his back and replying, “You want to bring in Tony.”

 

It wasn’t a question and Steve knew it, but he nodded anyway, stating, “I do. He works well with us and I can tell you like him a lot and, well, I know you mentioned when we were kids that you wanted to be able to love more than one person. It’s okay if that’s not still the case, but I just-”.

 

“Let’s take him out to dinner tonight.”

 

Steve stopped his awkward babbling and looked at Bucky in surprise, checking, “Are you sure? I don’t want you to agree if you don’t-”

 

“Steve. Hush. Let’s go find him and ask him to go to dinner tonight.”

 

Steve nodded and got to his feet, holding out his hand. Bucky took it and gave it a brief squeeze, then the pair headed upstairs.

  
  
  
  


It was decided that Tony would meet Steve and Bucky in the lobby of the Tower at 6:30 PM, the only hint as to the restaurant being Steve’s order to dress nicely. Which is why, at 5:30 PM, Tony was standing with Pepper in his bedroom, working himself into a premature heart attack as he stared blankly into his closet. It was a ‘girl’ day and Tony wanted to wear a dress badly, but he was also scared to do so in public, as he wasn’t quite ready to come out to the world yet. Luckily for the distressed billionaire, he had one Pepper Potts there to help him.

 

“Tony. Calm down.”

 

Tony snapped his gaze to Pepper and raked a hand through his freshly washed hair, babbling, “But- But, Pep, I-”

 

Pepper held up a hand and Tony wisely shut his mouth as Pepper walked into his closet and closed the door behind her. Tony started pacing, his overactive brain racing through scenarios, and Pepper finally emerged from the closet holding a pretty red dress and heels that Tony had bought on a whim. She held it out to her anxious friend and ordered, “Wear it. You’re a billionaire, Tony, and one known for his eccentricities at that. No one will question you wearing a dress. At this point, the only thing that would surprise most people is if you acted like a ‘normal’ person. So wear the dress, wear makeup, do your hair, make yourself all pretty, do whatever makes  _ you  _ feel happy and comfortable in your own body. And if someone decides to talk crap, stab them in the eyes with your heel.”

 

Tony could feel tears welling up in his eyes and he stepped forward to hug Pepper, mumbling, “Thanks, Pep. I needed that.”

 

Then he stepped back and took the dress from Pepper’s hands, walking into his bathroom to change while Pepper searched through his jewelry box to find suitable jewelry for the night. 

  
  
  
  


Twenty minutes later, Tony emerged from the bathroom in the dress and heels Pepper had chosen, with his eyes done up and his hair carefully styled. Pepper was sitting on the bed, checking her emails, and she grinned when she saw him, stating, “You look beautiful, Tony.”

 

Tony blushed and Pepper stood, stating, “I picked out some jewelry that I think will go with your outfit.”

 

She directed Tony to the dresser against wall, where three necklaces, two pairs of earrings, and a couple of bracelets were waiting. Tony perused the jewelry, selecting a delicate gold necklace and a pair of ruby-encrusted earrings, then froze when he looked at the bracelets. Pepper’s brows furrowed and she stepped forward to rest a hand on Tony’s shoulder, asking, “Everything alright?”

 

Fingers trembling, Tony reached out to touch one of the bracelets, a sparkly gold charm bracelet with four charms. Then, almost inaudibly, he stated, “This- This was my mom’s favorite bracelet. It was a family heirloom of sorts, passed down from her great-grandmother. It’s family tradition that each person who wears it adds a charm to it, something about their life.”

 

He picked it up, gently touching a small charm in the shape of a palm tree, then continued, “This one was my mom’s charm. She- She loved the beach. Used to drag Dad out of the lab on nice days and make him take us to the beach. Those were some of the only days that I ever felt like Dad really cared about me.”

 

Tony swallowed down the lump in his throat, then, sounding unsure of himself, asked, “Would Mom- Would Mom be proud of me?”

 

Without hesitation, Pepper answered, “I can’t imagine her not being proud of you, Tony.”

 

Tony’s eyes watered, but he tipped his head back so he didn’t mess up his makeup and grabbed a tissue to dab the tears away. Once his eyes were dried, he looked back at the bracelet, looking unsure for a second, then picked it back up and hooked it around his wrist.

  
  
  


At 6:31 PM, Tony emerged from his private elevator into the lobby, where Steve and Bucky were standing and talking in matching black suits. Steve’s jaw dropped when he saw Tony over Bucky’s shoulder and Bucky turned, eyes going wide. Tony blushed, not entirely sure what their reactions meant, and Steve stammered, “You- You look incredible, Tony. Beautiful. Not that you don’t always, but… Yeah. You look great.”

 

Tony could feel his blush darkening and he fiddled with the charms on his bracelet, answering, “Thanks.”

 

Bucky was still staring at Tony with wide eyes and Steve elbowed him lightly, jerking Bucky out of his reverie. Bucky gave a low whistle, then asked, “How is it that you somehow manage to be gorgeous as both a man and a woman?”

 

That earned a small laugh and Tony answered easily, “Genetics, I suppose.”

 

Bucky mumbled something under his breath that Tony couldn’t quite hear, but it made Steve blush and cover his face with one hand while the other reached out to shove Bucky as he whined, “Buck, you promised you would never bring that up again!”

 

Bucky gave a smug smirk and walked towards Tony, holding out an arm to escort him out to the car. Moments later, Steve was on Tony’s other side and the trio headed out to the waiting car. 

  
  
  
  


Steve and Bucky took Tony to some fancy Italian place that Pepper had recommended upon finding out that they were going to take Tony out. The dinner went better than expected, honestly. Copious amounts of excellent wine and pasta were consumed, no supervillains decided to stir shit up, and the conversation flowed naturally. Tony excitedly told Steve and Bucky about his newest project (“It’s a refrigerator with compartments that require fingerprint scanning to open, since someone, whose name may or may not rhyme with Lint, keeps stealing my leftovers and at this point it’s this or kill him.”), which Bucky listened to avidly as Steve just tried to keep up, then Steve regaled the duo with some funny stories with the Howling Commandos that had both Bucky and Tony in stitches. 

  
  


After dinner, the trio decided to go to a little corner ice-cream store in Brooklyn that had been there since Steve and Bucky were kids. The ride was made in comfortable silence and, after ordering their frozen treats, they found a seat and Tony finally asked the question that had been on his mind for most of the evening.

 

“So, why did you guys want to take me out?”

 

Steve shot Bucky a look, then, before he could chicken out like he’d been doing for most of the evening, Steve blurted, “We want you to be a part of our relationship.”

 

The words hung in the air and Tony stared at Steve and Bucky for a long minute before asking, “Do you mean in a threesome or do you mean a polyamorous relationship?”

 

Steve flushed scarlet and Bucky cut in, “A polyamorous relationship.”

 

Tony looked hesitant and, after a moment of thinking, he asked, “Is it alright if I get back to you on that? I’d like to think it over some.”

 

Steve nodded so quickly that he looked like a bobblehead, answering, “Of course! Take all the time you need!”


	7. It's A Field Trap

Peter wasn’t going to lie: Becoming Spider-Man was like a dream come true. Sure, he got his ass kicked sometimes (read: a lot), he was constantly tired from patrol, and it sucked seeing the Daily Bugle constantly shit-talking him, but, as far as he was concerned, it was all totally worth it to see the bright grins and wide eyes kids gave him when he got their cats or kites or frisbees out of trees and the warm smiles from little old ladies he helped across the street. However, even better than that was the fact that no one ever questioned if Spider-Man was a man like they did Peter. Every article from the Daily Bugle was about how Spider-Man was a vigilante menace, but not a single one ever insinuated that Spider-Man wasn’t a man (except the ones that talked about his age and called him Spider-Boy, but the point still stands). That lack of questioning and insinuation was satisfying, because no matter how much crap Flash gave him, he was still a man.

  
  
  
  


Then, along came Tony Stark. Suddenly, Peter had a new suit, a new (paid) internship that mostly consisted of working in various labs around the Tower and being pseudo-adopted by every Avenger he met (plus a few non-Avengers), and a new mentor who didn’t know he was trans, which, while a little awkward, was still nice. And yeah, the only people at school who really believed him were Ned and MJ, but it was fine. Peter didn’t need the school to believe him, as nice as it would be to not be called a liar and an attention-whore. 

  
  
  
  


Peter managed to hide the truth from everyone at the Tower (except Dr. Banner and Dr. Cho, who didn’t count because they were his doctors) for almost six months before it happened. 

 

The Field Trip. 

 

More specifically, the yearly Midtown field trip to a leading scientific company. Freshman year had been to Oscorp (and we all know how  _ that  _ turned out), so they wouldn’t be going there. Hammer Industries had more or less died a fiery death at the Stark Expo, which marked it off the list. Which left only one option…

 

“Class, we’re going to Stark Industries. Get your permission slips signed by Wednesday or you won’t be able to go, got it?”

 

Peter’s ears were ringing slightly as he stared at Mr. Harrington, who had officially given up on getting the attention of the class for the rest of the day. The permission slip felt like it weighed as much as the building that the Vulture had dropped on him and Peter felt slightly like he was going to be sick, because he knew full well that if he went on that field trip, he was going to be outed to everyone he knew and they were all going to hate him and he was going to get-

 

“Peter! Peter, dude, snap out of it!”

 

Peter startled out of his thoughts and realized that Ned was poking him in the face, trying to get the space-cadet-spider’s attention. Peter blinked at Ned, then dropped his face on the desk and announced, “I’m gonna die! If I don’t go, everyone will believe Flash and I’ll be called a liar even more. If I do go, Flash is gonna out me and-”

 

“Don’t finish that sentence, loser, unless you want me to smack you.”

 

Ah, there was MJ. Peter looked up at his two best friends with wide, desperate eyes and opened his mouth to argue, but MJ cut him off by lightly smacking the top of his head with her notebook, stating, “You’re going on that trip, Parker. I will forge the signatures and drag you there by the scruff of your neck if I have to. I want to draw Flash’s face when he realizes that you weren’t lying about working there.”

 

Peter opened his mouth to argue again, but, at MJ’s raised eyebrow and subtly lifted notebook, he closed his mouth and pouted, grumbling, “Fine. I’ll go.”

 

MJ nodded approvingly and Ned lit up like a Christmas tree, giving Peter a bright smile. Both of which made Peter’s stomach do a little flip out of what was definitely fear. Yep. Totally fear. He 100% was not slightly falling in love with his two best friends. What are you talking about, that would be ridiculous.

  
  
  
  


Ned went over to Peter’s that afternoon to work on their history project together (and also to make sure that Peter got his slip signed). May laughed at him when he handed her the permission slip. Not even just a little chuckle, but a full belly laugh that had her in tears and gasping for breath by the time she managed to stop. Once she had finished her laughing and Peter looked like he wanted nothing more than to melt into the floor, May signed the slip and, instead of handing it back to Peter, handed it to Ned and ordered, “Make sure that gets turned in, Ned.”

 

Ned took the slip and put it in his bag, nodding as May pulled Peter into a hug. She kissed the side of his head and, because she apparently enjoyed watching her nephew suffer, stated, “I’ll make sure Tony knows.”

  
  
  
  
  


The day of the field trip came far, far,  _ far  _ too quickly, if you were to ask Peter. But, because the universe was an unpitying jackass, time marched on and Peter found himself on the bus to Stark Tower, dressed in a hoodie he had borrowed (stolen) from Tony and a pair of jeans. He had the hood flopped over his face and felt like he was about to die, but he was there nonetheless (almost entirely because MJ kept a tight grip on his hoodie sleeve the whole way to school after she met him at his apartment building). Ned was settled beside him in the seat, trapping Peter between himself and the wall, and Peter slumped against him, shoving his hands into his pockets to fiddle with his badge. MJ was in the seat in front of them, drawing Peter’s miserable face as Ned patted Peter’s head gently.

  
  
  


They arrived at Stark Tower quickly and Peter gave a groan of protest as Ned more or less dragged him off the bus and into the lobby, but allowed it, knowing it was futile to fight. Once in the lobby, Peter spotted Caroline, one of the other interns, and ducked down behind Ned, praying that he wouldn’t be spotted. Unfortunately for Peter, Caroline bounced over to his class and chirped, “Midtown?”

 

At Mr. Harrington’s nod, Caroline greeted, “I’m Caroline, your tour guide! I have your badges! Please come get yours when I call your name!”

 

She held up a basket of plain white badges and a checklist, then started down the list. She went through it quickly, and, once everyone but Peter had received a badge, she clapped and cheered, “Excellent! Now we can start on the tour. If you’ll follow me, I’ll show you to- Yes, Mr. Harrington?”

 

Mr. Harrington cleared his throat and stated, “I beg your pardon, Ms. Caroline, but you seem to have forgotten a badge for Mr. Parker.”

 

Caroline scanned the class, her eyes finally landing on Peter where he was unsuccessfully trying to hide behind MJ, and beamed, teasing, “Pete! Did you forget your badge again?”

 

Peter weakly held up his bright red badge and answered, “N-No, I’ve got it.”

 

Caroline nodded and turned back to the rest of the class, continuing, “As I was saying, we’ll go through security, then we’ll really start the tour. Please hold all questions until we get into the elevator.”

 

The class followed Caroline to a row of scanners and walked through, swiping her dark green pass. FRIDAY calmly announced, “Caroline Ruwell, Emerald clearance. No unauthorized materials.”

 

The class followed quickly, until it was just Peter left. He took a deep breath, gritting his teeth, then walked through and swiped his pass, mumbling, “I’ve got Karen with me, FRI.”

 

In reply, FRIDAY stated, “Peter Parker, Ruby clearance. No unauthorized materials. Good morning, Peter. Dr. Banner would like to see you in his lab when you get the chance.”

 

Peter made a mental note and answered, “Alright, thanks FRI.”

 

Then they headed to the elevator as Peter tried to wish himself out of existence. The second the elevator doors slid closed, Caroline was being bombarded with questions about FRIDAY, Peter, and the badges. Caroline answered most of them, but was suddenly cut off by Flash calling, “How did a tranny freak like  _ Penny  _ Parker get a high level badge?”

 

Caroline froze and Peter shrunk down at the sound of his deadname, his face flushing scarlet. Then Caroline calmly answered, “Well, Mr. Thompson, I’m afraid I don’t know anyone by the name of Penny Parker. If, however, you mean Peter, he got the badge because he is Mr. Stark’s personal intern. Furthermore, Stark Industries is an inclusive space and will not tolerate hate speech or the use of slurs. This is your only warning. Should we hear you using slurs again, you will be removed from the premises.”

 

Flash looked a little like he had just gotten smacked and Peter gave Caroline a slight smile as she continued answering student questions.

  
  
  


When the group reached the first floor of labs, Peter immediately looked to the ceiling and whispered, “FRIDAY, you traitor. Why didn’t you warn me that Tony was here?”

 

He was pointedly ignored.

 

Tony beamed when he saw the class, press smile fully in place, and announced, “Caroline, I think I’ll be joining your tour group. Gotta make sure my tour guides know what they’re doing, after all.”

 

Caroline gave a terrified squeak and Peter, to Ned, mumbled, “More like he’s here to torment me, because he’s actually a monster.”

 

Sure enough, moments later, Tony was standing next to Peter, looking as smug as the cat that got the canary. Peter shrunk down into his hoodie like a scared turtle and Tony threw an arm around his shoulders, stating loudly and exaggeratedly, “Oh, Pete, I didn’t know that this was  _ your  _ class! You’ll have to introduce me to your friends!”

 

Peter hid his red face in his hands and grumbled, “Mr. Stark, meet Ned and MJ. MJ, Ned, meet the bane of my current fucking existence.”

 

Tony chatted with Ned about coding and MJ about Pepper (both MJ and Tony agreed that Pepper Potts is a gift to humanity) as they continued through the tour and, by the time they headed to the cafeteria for lunch, Peter was feeling a bit like maybe, just maybe, things weren’t going to hit the fan and he would make it through his trip without being outed or dying of pure, unadulterated embarrassment.

 

Peter spoke too soon.

 

Lunch had been going smoothly for ten minutes when the first sign that shit was nearing the metaphorical fan happened. Peter had taken off his hoodie, MJ was drawing Flash’s pissed off face, Tony was talking with Ned. Everything seemed fine. 

 

“Hey, Pete, what did sodium say when it got asked on a date?”

 

Peter narrowed his eyes at Tony and answered, “Don’t you dare.”

 

Tony replied with a shameless grin and announced, “Na.”

 

In response, Peter flopped facedown on the table and jokingly whined, “I don’t get paid enough to deal with your bad jokes, Mr. Stark.”

 

There was a slight shuffling from Tony and Peter looked up to see Tony pulling out his phone as, dead serious, he stated, “I’m doubling your pay.”

 

Peter leapt up with a yelp of, “Mr. Stark!”

 

Tony then flipped his phone around and held it out to show Peter, a smug look on his face as he teased, “Too late, Underoos. It’s already done.”

 

Peter sank back down in his seat as he looked at the phone, then narrowed his eyes at Tony and stated, “Pretty sure you added an extra zero there at the end, Mr. Stark.”

 

Tony glanced at the screen, then shrugged and replied, “So I did. Oops. Eh, too late to change it now.”

 

The casual admittance of the ‘mistake’ was more than enough to tell Peter that it wasn’t, in fact, a mistake. However, the sheer fact that Tony had more than doubled his pay at a half-hearted joke suddenly sent Peter’s mind racing and he blurted, “That was a joke, Mr. Stark. I wasn’t- I don’t need a raise, I wasn’t trying to get more money, I-”

 

Tony held up a hand to stop Peter’s babbling, then answered, “Don’t freak, kid, I know. Doesn’t much matter, though. And if you keep protesting the raise, I might just ‘accidentally’ add another zero to the end.”

 

Peter let out a particularly undignified squeak and immediately shut his mouth. Tony raised an eyebrow at the panicky teen, but was cut off from questioning him by Caroline clapping her hands and announcing, “Alrighty, Midtown, we’re onto the last part of the tour. Now, let’s take a vote! With our time remaining, we can either go see Dr. Banner’s lab, or we can go see the Avenger’s training room! Raise your hands. Who would like to see the-”

 

Caroline was cut off by Tony calling, “Hold up, Caroline. Who would rather have an exclusive Q&A with the Avengers?”

 

Every hand except Peter’s went up, including Caroline’s. Peter groaned and hid his face in his hands, grumbling, “You assholes planned this, didn’t you?”

 

Tony threw an arm around Peter and led the class to the elevator, answering, “Oh yeah. What, you thought you could get through this without getting embarrassed by us? Fat chance, kid. It was this or let them do it one by one. Consider this me taking pity on you.”

 

Peter tipped his head back to stare balefully at the ceiling and asked, “FRIDAY, do you happen to have a mercy-killing setting I could take advantage of? Just put me out of my misery before it starts?”

 

Sounding unfairly amused, FRIDAY answered, “I’m afraid I cannot do that, Peter.”

 

Peter slumped down as the elevator stopped and the class exited into a large conference room. Peter headed towards the farthest seat from the front, but Tony grabbed his shoulder and more or less marched him to one of the frontmost seats, ordering Ned to make him stay there. Ned immediately complied, plopping down in the seat in front of Peter. MJ just laughed at poor Peter’s misery and sat across from him, claiming that it was a better spot to draw the look on Peter’s face. And, just when Peter thought it couldn’t get any worse, his spidey-sense went off and Peter turned to find Flash sitting behind him. Peter groaned and slumped down in his chair, covering his face with his hands and wishing he hadn’t taken off his hoodie. The Avengers filed into the room as the students settled into their seats and Peter slunk down further, hoping he could just turn invisible. But no such luck.

 

“Peter! Hey, Peter, hey!”

 

Peter glared at a beaming Clint from between his fingers and whined, “You’re all awful people. How are any of you considered heroes? You all took time out of your schedules to congregate in a conference room and torment a fifteen year old, you monsters.”

 

Steve snorted and shot Peter a grin, teasing, “Dramatic much, Pete? You’ve been spending too much time with Tony.”

 

Tony made an affronted noise and shot back, “I’ll have you know that Peter had already developed a healthy sense of drama when I took him in. I simply helped to nurture it properly.”

 

Peter grumbled and slunk down further in his chair as Steve ruffled his hair. The Avengers grouped together at the front of the room and the students went dead silent for several seconds until Betty called, “How do you guys know Peter?”

 

Peter looked up sharply, glaring at the assembled heroes, but Clint just sent him finger guns and answered, “Pete, why don’t you come up and tell all your classmates about your internship? I’m sure they’d all  _ love  _ to hear about it.”

 

Peter growled in the back of his throat and hissed, “Clint, I am going to kick your ass when this is over.”

 

But, despite how much he  _ did not want to _ , Peter knew it was better to get it over with and stood up. His first step forward, however, was accompanied by the sound of ripping fabric. 

 

His shirt had ripped open.

 

He could see the exact moment that the Avengers’ eyes landed on his chest binder and Peter suddenly felt very, very, very nauseous. He could hear Flash laughing and jeering in the background, but it was almost completely drowned out by Peter’s panicky thoughts. He felt like he was drowning again, tears sliding down his cheeks as he gasped for breath. Then he heard Flash laugh, “Aww, poor wittle Penny Parker. About to get her ass beat by the Avengers for being a tranny little bitch.”

 

Next thing he knew, he was being pulled in against a warm body and led… somewhere, with the sound of Flash and someone yelling getting quieter and quieter. Well, the sound of Flash was getting quieter. The yelling was just loud, loud enough for Peter to catch Tony’s voice shout “Transphobic… motherfucking headass douchebag… never get into college, I swear to God!”

 

Then he was in the elevator and his hoodie was being gently pushed into his arms. Peter looked up at the person with him hazily, blinking at Steve, then buried his face in his hoodie and started crying again. Steve pulled him into a tight hug, gently petting Peter’s hair as he murmured, “It’s okay, Pete, you’re alright, you’re okay.”

 

The elevator dinged and Steve guided Peter out, leading him to the couch. Peter curled into a ball and Steve sat next to him, pulling Peter against his side as he mumbled soothingly. Peter couldn’t help but latch onto Steve, bawling against Steve’s chest, and Steve gently wrapped a blanket around him, petting his hair as a red-faced Tony emerged from the elevator. Tony looked at the small, curly-haired lump and felt the urge to cuddle Peter until he stopped crying, but resisted for the moment, instead hurrying to Peter’s room to grab the kid a new shirt. 

  
  


Tony returned to the living room in time to find Steve trying to coax Peter down from the ceiling. Peter was staring at Steve like he expected Steve to rip his limbs off and Tony walked over, stating, “Steve, the kid’s terrified that you’re gonna hurt him for being trans.”

 

Steve stared blankly at Tony, then answered, “Why the hell would I hurt the kid for being just like me?”

 

Tony cocked an eyebrow and pointed at Peter, asking, “Does Peter know about you?”

 

There was a beat of silence, then Steve murmured, “Oh. No.”

 

Tony shooed Steve out of the room, then walked to stand under Peter and soothed, “It’s alright, Pete. You can come down. I have a shirt for you to put on.”

 

There was a beat of silence, then Peter silently scuttled across the ceiling and down the wall. He carefully took the shirt from Tony and pulled it on, mumbling, “I can be gone by tomorrow. I get if you don’t want someone like me around you guys.”

 

It took Tony a moment to process before he was pulling Peter into a tight hug, murmuring, “Pete, it’s okay. We’re not gonna kick you out for being trans. Especially since that would make us the biggest hypocrites to exist.”

 

Peter curled into the hug and looked up at Tony, asking softly, “What?”

 

“I’m genderfluid, kid. And you’ll have to talk to Steve, but I can guarantee you that he won’t be upset at you for being trans. None of us are upset, I promise. At least, not at you. That Eugene shithead, though...”

 

Peter buried his face back in Tony’s chest and Tony could feel tears soaking through the material of his shirt, but didn’t much care as he guided Peter back to the couch. Settling Peter in his lap, he quietly asked, “That Eugene kid, the one sitting behind you. He called you a different name. Was that your old name?”

 

Peter nodded, mumbling, ”He’s been using it since the day I came out. And he says other stuff, too.”

 

Tony squeezed the kid tighter, asking, “And why don’t your useless school people do something about it? I heard him calling you slurs, Pete, and I have the feeling that this wasn’t a one-time occurence.”

 

Peter fidgeted with one of the buttons on his shirt and whispered, “They won’t do anything cause his parents donate a bunch of money to the school and if he gets in trouble, they’ll stop donating. At least, that’s what they told May when I was in seventh grade.”

 

Peter could hear Tony’s teeth grinding against each other even as his mentor snarled, “That’s getting changed. I don’t care if I have to storm your school in my full suit, I am not going to let some transphobic little shithead bully my kid without consequences.”

 

Peter curled closer and whispered, “It’s okay, Mr. Stark, you don’t have to do that. I’ll be okay.”

 

Tony scoffed, answering, “Like hell I don’t. Besides, if I don’t, Steve will. Or Bucky. Or literally any of the others. Hmm, maybe we should make it a family trip. Bet we could make your principle piss himself.”

 

That finally earned Tony what he was looking for. Peter gave a small laugh and relaxed against Tony, starting to look a bit sleepy from the emotional rollercoaster.

 

“Honestly, Mr. Stark, I’m pretty sure that you could make him wet himself all on your own.”

 

Tony set his hand on Peter’s head, teasing, “Oh, could I now? What makes you say that?”

 

Peter yawned and nestled closer, then sleepily stated, “You’re intimidating before people find out how much of a softy you are. Like a marshmallow covered in spikes.”

 

That had Tony laughing uproariously as the elevator opened and Bruce rushed in, looking rather green. Peter lifted his head and waved sleepily, greeting, “Hey, Dr. Banner.”

 

Bruce stopped short at the sight of Peter all curled up and cozy in Tony’s lap, then, taking a deep breath, asked, “Are you okay, Pete?”

 

Peter nodded and answered, “I’m okay. Tony helped calm me down.”

 

Bruce shot Tony a smile and Tony fluffed Peter’s hair, stating, “Can’t have my favorite intern thinking I’m a transphobic dick. Which reminds me, I need to have a press conference. It’s about time for me to tell the world about me being genderfluid.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so, so, so sorry this took so long. I've been at an art program and I haven't had any time to write. Please forgive me.


	8. Come Out, Come Out, Wherever You Are

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HOLY SHIT YOU GUYS ARE SO SWEET!!!! Seriously, this story started as a joke with my datemate and when I wrote it, I never once expected for people to actually like it! Your comments never fail to make me smile and I always go back and read them whenever I have a bad day because they make me so happy. Thank you thank you thank you thank you!

Tony fidgeted with the hem of his multicolored skirt as reporters filed into the press room, filling it with cameras and recorders. Pepper rested her hand on Tony’s shoulder and softly stated, “It’s okay, Tony. You’ll be fine.”

 

Tony nodded, steeling himself, and was about to walk out to face the press when Steve appeared at his other shoulder and calmly asked, “Mind if I hijack your press conference for a few minutes?”

 

Tony turned to look at his boyfriend (and how wild was that, dating Captain America and the Winter Soldier?) and was surprised to see Steve in a black shirt with the trans pride flag and the phrase “Make America Proud Again” in matching letters printed on it. Raising an eyebrow, Tony answered, “Uh, sure? What’s with the shirt?”

 

One of Steve’s eyebrows twitched and he growled, “I was recently informed by a certain teenager that some people think that I’m anti-LGBTQ+ because I’m from the forties and therefore use me to shame the community. I’m here to correct that misconception. Let’s watch President Rump try to use me as an anti-LGBTQ+ icon after this.”

 

Tony couldn’t help his grin as he (unsubtly) hinted, “There’s a Pride parade this weekend. And I bet your suit would look great with pink instead of red.”

 

Steve gave Tony A Look and stated, “Only if you wear Iron Man armor in the colors of the genderfluid flag.”

 

Tony laughed at that and answered easily, “Bold of you to assume I wasn’t already planning to. I have one in the lab all ready to go.”

 

Then, before Steve could answer, Tony sauntered out onto the stage. He grinned down at the assembled reporters, greeting, “Evening, everyone! Now, I’m sure you all have questions. Before you start asking them, however, I have something to say. I’m genderfluid.”

 

The reporters fell silent, then, from the back, a voice shouted, “What are your pronouns?”

 

Tony looked out at the crowd, asking, “Who said that?”

 

Moments later, a kid who looked about 19 stumbled forward, clutching a camera and looking frankly terrified. Tony smiled at the kid, stating, “I like you, kid. My pronouns are the same as they’ve always been. He/him. What’s your name and pronouns, kid?”

 

The kid fidgeted with his camera and stammered, “J-Jay Cooper, Mr. Stark. Th-they/them.”

 

Tony nodded and pulled a business card from his skirt pocket, holding it out to Jay and ordering, “Send me some of your work, Jay. Stark Industries has been looking for a corporate photographer.”

 

Jay took the card with a trembling hand and nodded, their eyes wide and awed. Tony grinned and walked back to the podium, preparing to speak again. Then Steve was setting one hand on Tony’s waist and announcing, “I have recently been made aware that many people believe me to be against the LGBTQ+ community. I’m here to set the record straight. Or, well, not  _ straight _ , per se, but to correct that misinterpretation.”

 

Steve gave Tony’s waist a gentle squeeze and continued, “Most of you know me, Steven Grant Rogers, Captain America, as a cisgender man. I am here to tell you all that you are incorrect. As both of my partners know, I am, in fact, a trans-man. And if I hear my name being used in conjunction with anti-LGBTQ+ sentiments, we’re going to have some issues, because I went to war against the Nazis so that people can be who they are and love who they love without persecution. Thank you.”

 

The room was so quiet that you could hear a pin drop. Then, after the reporters had managed to process everything, the room erupted in noise, voices clamoring over each other for attention. Tony held up a hand for silence, then pointed at a random reporter to ask their question. The reporter, a weaselly-looking guy in his thirties, stepped forward and introduced, “Bill Shawiro, The Daily Whiner. Tell us, Captain Rogers, why exactly did you decide to become a transgender?”

 

Tony looked like he was about to commit a crime against the reporter, but Steve simply glowered at Shawiro, answering coldly, “I didn’t decide anything, Mr. Shawiro. I was born trans.”

 

Shawiro flushed and shrank down under Steve’s patented ‘You have disappointed Captain America’ glare, scuttling back into the crowd as Tony chose another reporter. The Q&A went quickly and soon enough, Steve and Tony were in the elevator headed upstairs. Tony slumped against Steve’s side and pushed his face into Steve’s ribs like an affectionate cat, mumbling, “That was exhausting.”

 

Steve ran his fingers through Tony’s hair and answered, “At least it’s over, darling.”

 

Tony leaned into the touch and, as the elevator doors opened, Steve carefully guided Tony out onto their floor, where Bucky was asleep on their couch. Tony grinned at the sight of the sleeping supersoldier and dragged Steve forward, flopping down on top of Bucky and pulling Steve down with him. Bucky made a startled noise and blinked sleepily at his datemates, then wrapped his arms around them and squeezed them tightly, mumbling, “How’d it go?”

 

Tony grinned and snuggled in between his datemates, mumbling, “Pretty good. Iced Cappuccino over here probably just caused a bunch of conservative old fucks to simultaneously die, but I’m okay with that.”

 

Steve groaned at the nickname and rolled to squish Tony between himself and Bucky, grumbling, “Shhhhhhhh. It’s naptime. FRIDAY snitched about you in the lab last night.”

 

Tony glared up at the ceiling and huffed, “Traitor.”

 

Steve nuzzled Tony’s hair and mumbled, “Shush. Sleep.”

 

Tony grumbled, but wiggled until he was comfy and fell asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you guys appreciated the not at all subtle shade thrown at Donald Trump and Ben Shapiro.


	9. May-Gay, May-Gay, They're Hot!

The day after the field trip, Happy picked May up from the apartment and led her down to the car, where Pepper and Natasha were waiting in the back, a stuffed file folder between them. Pepper smiled warmly at May and greeted, “You must be Mrs. Parker. I’m Pepper Potts and this is Natasha Romanoff. Tony asked that I accompany you to Peter’s school so that we can have a chat with Peter’s principal about the bullying problem Peter has been having. I hope that’s alright. Tony wanted to come himself, but Peter requested that I come instead, since, unlike Tony, I am a sane, reasonable, functional human being who won’t show up to a meeting at a school in a super suit.”

 

May blinked in surprise, then answered, “Oh, um, thank you, Ms. Potts. Please, call me May. It’s nice to meet you both. Peter speaks highly of both of you.”

 

Pepper grinned at that, laughing, “Call me Pepper. It’s good to meet you too, May. From how Peter describes you, I feel like we’ll get along well.”

 

May couldn’t help but blush at that, unable to stop herself from noticing the fact that both Pepper and Natasha were very much her type, and Natasha smiled, adding, “I was planning to join in on terrorizing the principal, if that’s alright with you, May. Us spiders have to stick together, after all.”

 

May smiled at the two redheads across from her and answered, “That useless bag of dicks won’t know what hit him.”

  
  
  
  


The drive to the school was spent plotting how best to deal with the principal. May was rather pleased with how protective Natasha and Pepper were of Peter and, as they reached the school, May said as much. Pepper smiled and replied, “He’s a good kid. He doesn’t deserve to be bullied.”

 

May nodded approvingly and the trio climbed out of the car, heading into the school. Pepper took the lead, Natasha and May just behind her, and led the way into the front office. 

  
  
  


Principal Morita looked like he was about to wet himself when he stepped out of his office and came face to face with Natasha Romanoff, Pepper Potts, and May Parker. Natasha gave a cold, threatening smile and Pepper calmly stated, “Good afternoon, Mr. Morita. I’m here about my friend’s nephew being harassed and bullied, and, more accurately, the fact that nothing is being done about it.”

 

Principal Morita gaped and answered, “Oh, um, I- Of course, Miss Potts.”

 

Pepper nodded approvingly and followed Principal Morita into his office. Principal Morita still looked slightly nauseous and Pepper opened the file folder she was holding, explaining, “This is every recorded and transcripted instance we have of Peter being harassed and bullied at this school, including transcripts of the bullying incidents that occured on the Stark Industries field trip. Now, after looking through these, it seems to me that the bullying is mostly perpetrated by a young man by the name of Flash Thompson. However, we also have evidence of two separate teachers and a guidance counselor harassing Peter on the grounds of him being transgender.”

 

Principal Morita looked like he would rather be literally anywhere except across from Pepper, May, and Natasha as he stammered, “Well, um, you see, Miss Potts, I’m afraid that there is really very little that I can do in regards to the situation with Mr. Thompson, as his parents donate quite heavily to the school and without those donations, we would be unable to…”.

 

He trailed off at the look of sub-zero rage on Pepper’s face and Natasha gave a dangerous smile as she calmly clarified, “So, you won’t stop the harassment because his parents are bribing you. Fascinating.”

 

Morita’s face was ashen as he answered weakly, “I can see how it may appear that way, but, well, you see, it’s not like that.”

 

Pepper hummed thoughtfully, then mused, “Forgive me, Mr. Morita, but I doubt the jury would see it that way if we were to take this to court. Perhaps we should find out. After all, with Tony mellowing out, our team of lawyers at Stark Industries haven’t had a good court case to deal with recently and I fear that they may be getting bored. And even on the off chance that you won the case, I doubt the press would be particularly kind.”

 

Morita’s eyes went wide and he exclaimed, “No, no, that- That won’t be necessary, Miss Potts, I assure you. I- I will get in contact with Mr. Thompson’s parents and if you can tell me the names of the teachers and counselor that Miss...ter Parker has been having issues with, I will gladly open an investigation.”

 

Pepper hummed thoughtfully and replied, “Very well, Mr. Morita. Be warned, we will be monitoring the situation and if things don’t change, I will happily take this to the courts.”

 

May couldn’t help the gleeful grin on her face as Principal Morita practically tripped over himself trying to set up investigations into the teachers Pepper mentioned.

  
  
  


Thirty minutes after they entered the school, May, Pepper, and Natasha returned to where Happy was parked and climbed into the car. May was practically bursting with happiness and, as soon as the doors closed, she blurted, “Pepper, you are an angel and a blessing.”

 

Then she clamped one hand over her mouth and flushed, wondering if this was how Peter felt when he said stupid shit. Pepper just laughed, stating, “You know, normally Tony is the one saying that. It’s nice to hear it from someone else. And I was happy to do it. Peter deserves to go to school and not be bullied.”

 

The car started moving and May couldn’t help wondering where they were going. Her curiosity must have been obvious, because Natasha stated, “We’re going out to lunch to celebrate. There’s an Italian restaurant that Tony suggested not far from here.”

 

May nodded, cheeks flushing pink as she realized how much the situation seemed like a date (and as she realized how much she  _ wanted it  _ to be a date). 


End file.
